The Goodness, Beauty, and Truth from October 30-November 5, 2022

So much goodness to share this week. Books, spiderwebs (not the Halloween kind), kind and challenging words.

First up, Ann Voskamp's generous post describing time with her mother. "The ways a parent falls short can completely fade in comparison to the ways they’ve loved long. What a parent wasn’t able to give you, can be dwarfed in this present moment, by what they did give."  You can read more here Honoring Your Parents

Tim Keller has a new book: Forgive: Why Should I and How Can I?. I've only browsed through it, but as with his other books of this nature, you will find thorough notes and additional material in the back to help you commit forgiveness to practice. I recommend you pair this with his book Walking with God through Pain and Suffering. I hope to post a review on Forgive after the first of the year.

I recently finished listening to All Creatures Great and Small. These have been my bedtime stories. The kind that tells of ordinary people living ordinary lives.  Seems we all could use more ordinary. I've moved on to All Things Bright and Beautiful. But in between these two books, I listened to Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These. And then bought the book. It was highly recommended by Karen Swallow Prior. This too is a story of ordinary people living ordinary lives who also know of those whose lives are cruel. Set in Ireland at Christmas it is short but poignant. I've struggled with other books to compare it to but it has elements of Dicken's Christmas Carol and perhaps a few more, but I need to re-read it again before I say. I hope to re-read this with a group of friends during Advent. Speaking of which I'm writing a post with Advent resources.  

The weather has been warmer over the last few weeks. Autumn was beautiful this year. The colors were more varied and vibrant than usual. Click on any of the photos for larger views.

The autumn sun's slanted light at sunset is one of the warmest lights of the year, guilding everything it touches.

We live in a small valley where the early morning light doesn't reach us until a little after sunrise. As the sun crests the hill, it lights the trees from their top to trunk. 

We are a bit past the peak color now, but still, the mornings are fresh and glorious. I was surprised, and not a little delighted, to find spiders were still weaving their intricate webs this late in the season. 

Up next week: Advent resources, more Goodness, Truth, and Beauty which I hope includes photos of frost flowers. Curious? Look here.